Tournabout Crossover
by A Mere Servant of God
Summary: A story in which Phoenix Wright meets various TV and video game characters and becomes their defense attorney. That's pretty much it.
1. Turnabout Phantom Intro

Hello to all, and welcome to my newest fanfic, Tournabout Crossover! Forthose who have been reading my other stories, waiting for months for me to update...I lost interest? sweatdrop Anyway, this is the plot of Tournabout Crossover: Phoenix meets famous people from TV shows, video games, etc., and gets them a 'not guilty' verdict. This takes place a month or two after PW: JFA, and thus may have a spoiler or two in it. Now, as for who Mr. Wright will be proving innocent first...you'll find out..

* * *

"Mr. Wright...can you keep a secret?" 

I was shocked at what I was hearing, even through the bad sound quality on my phone. Even so, that one phone call would change my career...forever. Melodramatic, I know, but true. After all, how many times in your life do you get to defend a _superhero_, of all things?

I'm not talking about defending anyone like a bodyguard would. Yes, I fight on a battlefield, but that battlefield is court. You see, I'm a defense attorney. The name is Phoenix Wright. Yes, _that_ Phoenix Wright!

But, I'm getting ahead of myself. Not by very much, but still. I'll go back a few minutes in time and tell you the whole story...

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Turnabout Crossover

A Phoenix Wright Fanfic

By A Mere Servant of God

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"I'm sooo bored..." sighed Maya, my spirit-medium assistant.

"Well, get used to it," I said. "We haven't exactly had a huge number of calls since last case..."

"I know. That's why I'm bored."

"Sigh..." I sighed, slumping in my chair.

Maya and I were waiting at Wright (Me) and Co. (Maya and Pearls, and occasionally Mia) Law Offices. Ever since last trial, the Matt Engarde one, I've been getting a ton of publicity, and not just in my good ol' hometown either. But, considering I not only knew Matt was guilty (as sin), but even got him, my own client, declared guilty, the real guilty parties are...reluctant to come to me. And, apparently, the police are being more careful in their investigations, so few people are being falsely accused.

Well, that's super and all, but I'm approaching bankruptcy here.

I slumped even further in my chair. _-Not to mention the fact that I've got three hungry mouths to feed, counting myself, plus the fact both the guys' celebration dinners are still on my tab...- _I sighed, again. _-Next thing you know, the phone is going to ring, and the new chief of police is going to tell me I've been accused of murder...-_

The phone rang.

After Maya patted my sobbing shoulder, I composed myself best I could and answered the phone. "Hello, Wright and Co. Law Offices. This is Phoenix Wright speaking."

"Mr. Wright...can you keep a secret?"

And that's where we left off, with me startled, Maya lying on the sofa, kicking her legs, and a long silence.

"Erm...I...I suppose so..." I stuttered.

"That is not good enough. 'I suppose so' just doesn't cut it when it comes to keeping a secret identity that: a secret."

I gently set the phone down, took a few deep breaths, told Maya, calmed Maya down, and put my phone back up to my ear.

"Are...are you still there?" I asked.

"Yes," responded the voice at the other end of the line.

"Well...yeah. I can keep a secret."

"Good. Because this particular secret, plus your services as a defense attorney, are worth 2 million dollars in cash money."

I nearly fainted on the spot.

"Two mil...two million dollars?! Yeah, I can DEFINITELY keep a secret!!"

"Excellent. Now, have you ever heard of a certain ghost boy...Danny Phantom?"

_-Actually, no,- _I thought. _-I get the feeling I should, though...-_

I turned to Maya. "Hey, uh, you're more into superhero-y stuff than I am...who's Danny Phantom?"

"WHAT?!" shouted Maya so loudly my phone actually sparked. "You don't know Danny Phantom? Geeze, Nick, don't you watch the news?

_-No,- _I said inside my head, _-I never liked news programs...they make me sad...-_ Out loud, I said "Just tell me about him!"

"Okay, basically he's a ghost," said Maya. "Most ghosts with strong enough motives to stay attached to Earth are bad guys, but this one actually fights the bad ghosts and puts 'em back in the ghost zone where they belong! He's really hunky, too..."

"And...this is all...real?"

"110 real, buster!" Maya shouted in response.

"Uh, huh..." I responded, starting to doubt the validity of this case. I put the phone back to my ear. "Yes, I've heard of him."

"That long pause," responded the voice, "Lets me know you really haven't."

"Heh...guess you caught me...so, could I have the details of the case?"

"I'll tell you when you get here. Go to the local airport and tell them that you're Phoenix Wright. There should be four round trip tickets, first class, under your name."

_-Four tickets, huh?- _I thought._ -Well, I only need three...one for me, one for Maya, one for Pearls...heh, Pearls will be thrilled to fly up in the air...after she finishes asking me exactly how an air-puh-lane works...-_ "Go on..." I said, aloud.

"When you reach Amity Park airport, about an hour and a half from your current location, look for a sign that says 'Phantom's Defense' in large letters. Stand under it, and soon my associates and I will be there to escort you to your limo, from which you are to be taken to the finest hotel in town. We will explain the exact details of the case along the way. Got all that?

"Yeah," I said. "So...I guess I'll see you in an hour and a half, right?"

My only answer was the silence of a dead phone line.

I put the phone down. "Hey, Maya? We're going to Amity Park!"

The neighbors complained about the noise...

**0 0 0**

"Attention please!" called the flight attendant from up in front. "We will be landing in about 3 minutes. May I ask that you turn off all electronic devices at this time?"

I switched off my laptop, leaning back and closing my eyes. I always closed my eyes when I did heavy thinking. I was defending a teenage ghost (or a hundred-year old ghost, for all I knew) whom I had just found out about a little under two hours ago, and just started researching on an hour ago. The fact that, dating back to the oldest headline, the first mention of this ghost kid (under the name 'Inviso-Bill...poor guy...) was about his attacking the mayor, well, that wasn't good. But the reports got better over time, eventually earning Mr. Phantom 83 of Amity Park's approval, and 54 of the world's.

And an entire website dedicated entirely to his butt. That was...disturbing.

But, back to my main point, which is: Phantom is generally seen as a good guy...or, he was, until yesterday, when favor in him suddenly dropped to a 4 average. Why? Because he was accused of murder, of course. And, typical of policemen (or 'policepeople', to use the politically correct term), they won't give any info to anyone, including the newspapers. I don't blame them...but it's still frustrating. How am I supposed to solve a murder with nothing to go on?

"...and please remain in your seats until the plane has come to a complete stop," finished the flight attendant, snapping me out of my reverie. I looked to my right, out the window, to see the landing strip a couple feet below the landing gear. I turned to my left to see Maya unbuckling her seat belt and getting up.

"Maya!" scolded Pearls, my _other_ spirit medium assistant, and cute as a button...when she wasn't angry. "The nice flight at-in-dant lady said we should stay in our seats until-"

"Yeah, I know," said Maya, "But where's the fun in that? Besides, it's not like I'm going to..."

The plane hit a small bump as it landed, knocking Maya a few feet backwards into an empty seat behind her. Pearls and I both started laughing as Maya got up, a red mark on her forehead and a scowl on her face.

**0 0 0**

I couldn't have missed that sign if I tried. "Phantom's Defense" might have well been playing over a loudspeaker in place of that blue sign with red letters...and the emblems...and the word 'Objection' in various places...and the fact it was 9 feet wide, and a banner instead of a sign...and...well, you get the idea.

"Uh..." was all I could say.

"Wow, Nick, we're famous!" said Maya.

_-Goody for us...-_ I thought. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed three teenagers, one holding a metal briefcase, coming directly towards me. _-No way...I'm not meeting..._kids..._am I?-_ I looked over at my assistants. _-Then again, Maya and Pearls are my assistants, and they're just kids...and this Phantom superhero is a kid too...I think...who knows?-_

The three teenagers stopped about three feet away from me. I stuck my hand out to the redhead carrying the briefcase, who seemed to be in charge. "Hello. I'm Phoenix Wright, and these," I said, gesturing to my companions "Are my assistants, Maya and Pearl Fey."

"Hey there!" said Maya, waving.

"Hello," said Pearls, giving a respectful bow.

"Charmed to meet you all," said the redhead, bowing back. I recognized her voice as that of the mysterious phone caller. "I'm Jasmine Fenton, (you can call me Jazz) and these are my friends," she continued, gesturing to her left, where a teenage boy, African-American, and a gothic-looking girl stood, "Sam Manson and Tucker Foley."

"Yo!" shouted Tucker.

"Hey," said Sam, simply.

"Well, now that we've all been introduced, how about we head to the limo?" said Jazz, turning and walking towards the front exit, along with Tucker and Sam. We were slightly confused by her sudden move from social to business, but followed her nonetheless. That is, until about halfway across the terminal.

"Nick..." said Maya, behind me. I turned around, and there she stood...glowing?

It was her magatama, and it was drawing attention. -_It glows whenever there is a strong spiritual energy around,- _I thought, even as Pearl's magatama lit up as well. I reached into my pocket and pulled out "my" magatama, which was really just an extra of Maya's. It was glowing, too. _-And in a town legendary for ghost attacks...oh, great...-_

As if in response to my thoughts, three green, many legged blobs burst from the floor, or maybe I should say _through_ the floor. Their appearance was frightening, large mouth, red eyes, etc., but I managed to stay calm. Maya and Pearls, on the other hand...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

Jazz pulled out a tube of some kind of metal with green metal on the ends out, and whipped it forward like...well, like it was a whip. It quickly turned out to actually be one, though, as a set of nine-ish whips came out of it. A small plastic rendition of some smiling guy's face was in the middle. Weird. The whip made contact with one of the ectoplasmic entities, and closed, bringing the other two in its grasp as well. Jazz brought the whip back, causing it to spark with electricity, then brought it down, slamming the ghosts on the floor, where they disappeared.

A crowd had gathered around us by that point, and was now applauding our own little red-headed warrior, who remained calm, pressing a button to reel the whip-like object in. She then shoved her way through a gap in the crowd, still headed towards the exit, and we followed.

"I hate crowds," was all she said as a chauffeur opened the door of a white (and surprisingly roomy) limo and we all got inside.

**0 0 0**

"So," I asked, about ten minutes into the ride. It would have been sooner, but Pearls needed calming down, and after that she had a lot of questions. "Can I have the details of the case yet?"

"Not quite," was what Jazz said in response. "If those two could move about three steps backwards?" she asked, indicating Maya and Pearls. They did so, and immediately a wall of black glass separated them from me! Before I could object, Sam piped up.

"Completely soundproof glass. Nice, huh? Sorry to have kind of sprung you on that, but we need to keep this a secret, and little kids usually aren't good at keeping secrets."

"And Maya?" I asked, suspicious. _-What if these "kids" are really some kind of ghosts or something?-_

"Kid at heart," Jazz responded. Sadly, I had to agree. "You see, the infamous Danny Phantom...isn't really a ghost."

"Um...you're kidding, right?" I asked.

"Not at all," said Jazz. "It's a long story, and one I wasn't there to witness, so my friends could probably tell it better. Guys?"

"Well, you, see," began Tucker, "It goes like this: Jazz and her brother, Danny, have Amity Park's best ghost hunters as parents."

_-Danny? Same name as the ghost kid...coincidence? Not the way the story is heading...-_ I thought.

Sam continued where Tucker left off. "One day, the Fentons built a ghost portal. This portal is capable of punching a hole between dimensions into a realm known as the Ghost Zone, where all spirits still tied to the Earth live. Well, Mr. And Mrs. Fenton booted it up, and..."

"Spark! Fizzle. Nothing," finished Tucker eloquently.

"But the next day, we, as in Tucker and I, came over for a visit," said Sam. "Danny showed us the ghost portal, and I persuaded him to go inside it. His hand bumped the 'ON' button ,which his parents had forgotten to press before they plugged it in, and..." With these words, she slid across to me a picture of Danny Phantom next to some kind of green...portal. It was all that needed to be said.

"I see..." I said, a little shaken.

"If you keep this all a secret, and manage to get my little brother a 'Not Guilty' verdict, you will get this..." said Jazz, setting the briefcase on the table and opening it. Inside was a large sum of money, which I assumed to be 2 million dollars. I was awestruck, as I had never seen a million dollars in my life, nevertheless _two_ million, but then...a thought hit me.

"Where do three teenagers get two million dollars?" I asked.

"Same place we got the limo," responded Tucker.

"Hardy har har."

"In all seriousness, though," relented Tucker, "Sam here's the deli toothpick heiress."

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Yep," she said, rather unconcerned.

I leaned my head back and gave off what I hoped sounded like an evil chuckle. I looked back down at the kids, and, in my best Manfred von Karma voice, said: "You do realize that if I went to the press with this, I'd get a lot more than two million dollars, right?"

Their faces all went pale, their eyes wide. I had sufficiently scared them. "Of course," I said, going back to my normal voice, "I'm not going to go to the press. I'm too much of a good guy to do that. I'm just making sure you all realize that you have to be more careful who you tell this to. Got it?"

"Got it," they all said. Jazz closed the briefcase and pressed a button. The black-tinted glass between me and my assistants immediately disappeared...and I kind of wished it hadn't.

"That was mean!" shouted Maya, angrily. And when Maya shouts angrily, people get out of the way.

"Mean, but necessary," responded Jazz, matter of factly. "As for the details of the case...I don't know much. I do know, however, that the second richest household in town was struck by tragedy two nights ago when its owner, Ms. Shannon DeLear, was fatally wounded by a knife to the chest. The suspect is Danny Phantom, the town's resident hero, or former hero I should say, who happened to be fighting a few ghosts in the area of the murder.

"They're arresting him because he was there?!" shouted Maya.

"Like I said, I don't know a lot of details of the case," responded Jazz. "Apparently, the police have a large amount of evidence against Mr. Phantom, though."

"Wait, so no one in town knows exactly why the police arrested him, and everyone hates him?" I butted in.

Sam answered in Jazz's place. "This town is full of stupid, fickle people."

_-Just like home...-_ I said inside my head, as the limo pulled to a stop.

"Why are we stopping here?" asked Pearls, looking out the window. "This doesn't look like a hole-tell..."

"I know," said Jazz. "I figured you would want to have a chat with the suspect. This is the police station."

"I see..." I said, opening the limo door without waiting for the chauffeur.

**0 0 0**

"Wow..." remarked Maya. "I can't believe we had to go through three security checks before we came in here..."

'Here' was a cell room, like any other...except for the tubes of pulsating green energy on the walls. Those kind of stood out. After a few seconds of waiting in silence, a trapdoor in the floor opened, and a green light streamed out as a dome and some kind of tube of green liquid came out. The dome seemed to be made out of the green light that shone out of the hole, and as it faded, I could see a figure in a black and silver jumpsuit inside the green liquid. The figure lifted its head, and I could see the silver emblem on his chest, which looked like a silver D with a gap in it that created the illusion of a P inside the D. His hands had a heavy-looking steel bar around them, connecting them together. Around his mouth was an steel mask-like object with horizontal slits in it. Green energy glowed out through the slits.

"Danny Phantom, I presume? I'm Phoenix Wright, and-"

"COOL!" shouted Maya. "DANNY PHANTOM! OMIGOSH, I SO NEED YOUR AUTOGRAPH!"

"Uh..." responded Danny, "Well, I'd like to give you my autograph, but..." and he raised his hands up to chest level.

"Oh..." said Maya, looking embarrassed.

"So, you're Phoenix Wright, huh? I'm a big fan!" said Danny. "Man, if you're gonna defend me, I'm as good as free! Or, close, at least..."

_-Wow. The kid's gotta lot of faith in me...-_ I thought. "So...mind if I ask you some questions about the crime?"

"Go ahead...although, I'm not sure how much help I can be..."

"Well...first off...what were you doing at the time of the crime?"

"I think I was fighting some ghosts," Danny responded

"You _think_?" I asked, getting...a little nervous, to say the least.

"The police aren't sure of the exact time of murder, therefore I'm not sure what I was doing when the crime happened."

"So you basically don't have an alibi?"

"Not a one."

I said some words in my head I won't repeat out loud.

"Mr. Nick, are you okay? You look really upset..." said Pearls, concernedly.

"I'm...fine..." I responded, trying to calm down. "Well, then...let's assume that the murder happened while you were fighting those ghosts. What did you do afterwards?"

"I went home and took a nap."

"Ghosts have homes?" asked Maya. "They take naps?"

"Yeah, just like everybody else," said Danny.

"Wow...I never thought much about ghost's lives off of Earth..." said Maya, looking reflective.

"People don't think much of ghosts at all..." said Danny, quietly, looking truly sad.

There was a short silence after that. "So...some people don't like you because you're a ghost?" I asked.

"That's not fair!" said Pearls, looking angry.

Danny tried to look like normal, but failed. "Yeah, but...it doesn't bother me or anything! I mean, why would I care about what other people think?"

Suddenly, everything around me but Danny disappeared. Nothing but blackness was all around us. A mass of chains appeared from nowhere, surrounding Danny, but not actually tying him up. Two locks appeared on the chains.

_-Poor Danny...- _I thought. _-He really is suffering, deep down...I wish I had a way of helping him.-_

Danny looked up. "So, um...you got any more questions for me?"

"Just two," I responded. "First one: How did you relate to one Shannon DeLear?"

"I met her a couple of times..." said Danny. "She was pretty, but not my type. I heard she was the second richest person in town...that's all I know."

"Hmm...Maya, Pearls? I'll need you two to leave for the second question, okay?"

"What?" shouted Maya.

"Okay!" said Pearls, running off. Maya huffed, then followed her.

I turned to Danny just in time to see his Psyche-Locks shatter. "Phew...now I can really talk to you...although I don't think that Danny Fenton or Danny Phantom can be of much use in this situation..."

"You're Danny Fenton?" I asked, pretending not to know about his secret.

"GAH!" he shouted.

"Relax, I'm kidding," I said.

"...if I weren't restrained..."

"Point taken," I cut him off. "Anyway, I need to ask...is there anything at all that Danny Fenton can tell me that Danny Phantom can't?"

"Just one thing," he responded. "My parents...they hunt ghosts..."

_-That explains the Psyche Locks...-_ I thought.

"You see, they've invented something," said Danny. "It's a ghost tracker, but not like the Boooooo-merang..."

_-Neo Olde Tokyo, Boooooo-merang...what dreadful misuse of English will be next?- _I wondered. Before I could ask exactly what the Boooooo-merang was, Danny went on.

"You see, if this tracking device gets a hold of a particular ecto-energy signature, it can track it pretty much anywhere. So, my dad was tracking me last night...did I mention my dad doesn't know I have ghost powers?"

"No, but I gathered that."

"Cool...anyway, my dad happened to track me all the way to Ms. DeLear's home. He didn't actually step on the property, but the windows were so huge...he saw 'me' stab Ms. DeLear in the chest with some kind of weapon at about 9:00 PM, which is the same time I was fighting those ghosts...he wouldn't say anything more about that, except to 'Come to the trial and see for yourselves!' Of course Danny Fenton won't be at the trial, because he suddenly was called away to a three-day ghost-hunting training camp."

"Clever," I said.

"Thanks," responded Danny. "The officers showed up to arrest me yesterday, which I know was probably based on the eyewitness account of my dad. I turned myself over willingly, but even so, they didn't exactly believe in my good nature," Danny said as he indicated his wrists with his head.

"Hmm...okay, I think that'll be all," I said as I turned to leave.

"Wait," said Danny. I turned to face him. "In my room. There's a note I left...there isn't much on it, just some things you may need for the trial. It's under my rocket alarm clock."

_-A superhero with a rocket alarm clock?-_ I thought. Outside my head, I said: "I see. Thank you for your time."

"Don't thank me. I've got plenty," he joked. I chuckled as I left the room.

Maya and Pearls, mainly Maya, were waiting there in ambush with the most deadly weapons of all...questions. Near the end of the flurry, I managed to make out, "What did he say?"

"He said some interesting things, but nothing important to the trial," I lied.

"Aww...you're just making up something so you won't have to tell me..."

As Pearls admonished Maya for being so nosy, I laughed inwardly. _-You don't know the half of it,-_ I thought as I got into the limo.

* * *

And so there you go, the first part of the first case: Tournabout Phantom!...no, I didn't steal that name from a fanfic, I thought it up before the other fanfic was posted.

YOU HAVE NO PROOF!

Erm, anyways, be on the lookout for the next chappie soon...if I don't lose interest...


	2. Turnabout Phantom Day 1: Investigation

Well...um...I seriously didn't lose interest in this. I just got writer's block...but I'm over it now, so here's the next chapter!

And, no, I don't own Phoenix Wright.

* * *

So," asked Maya, "Where to next?" 

"I was thinking of heading over to the Fenton's place," I responded.

"Huh? You know about the Fentons?" asked Maya.

"Yep," I said. "I did my research."

"Um, what are Fin-tones?" asked Pearls.

"The Fentons are the greatest ghost hunters this side of the world, and my parents," responded Jazz in my place. "I think they'll like you, they have your trials on tape! At least, the ones that were on TV..."

"Really?" I asked, my curiosity piquing. _-I always did wonder what I looked like on television...-_

"Yeah," said Jazz. "When they're feeling bad, they like to put in the tape, fast forward to certain parts, and have a good laugh."

_-Ouch...- _I thought, as the limo pulled up to a halt in front of the Fenton's house.

**0 0 0**

"So, you're Phoenix Wright!" said Mrs. Fenton, laying a plate of homemade fudge on the table before me. "It's very nice to meet you in person! More tea?"

"Please and thanks!" shouted Maya.

I glanced down at my written court record notes as Mrs. Fenton refilled everyone's tea. _-Maddie Fenton, an expert ghost hunter and 9__th__ degree black belt...Jack Fenton, the exact opposite of growing old with dignity...-_

Maddie, or Mrs. Fenton as I have been calling her, still had a womanly figure, most likely from all the ghost-hunting she did. Jack was her opposite in every way. Where she was skinny, he was fat. She liked blue-green, he liked orange. She was calm and logical, he was emotional and illogical. She kept in shape, he liked fudge. _-Although, after tasting Maddie's fudge, I can't blame him on the last point...-_

"So, what brings you to Amity Park, Phoenix?" Jack bellowed, acting already as if we were old pals.

"Oh, I'm, uh...here on business," I said, telling the truth, but avoiding a wrathful "I hate ghosts" speech, like Jazz had warned me to do.

"He's Mr. Phantom's defense attorney!" shouted Pearls. I cringed. Maya, sitting next to me, gulped. Jazz and Sam smacked themselves on the forehead. Tucker decided to try for a topic change.

"Um, uh...great...tea, Mrs. Fenton!" Tucker said.

_-Yeah, that didn't sound forced at _all_...- _I thought.

"Well," chuckled Jack, "You've got your work cut out for ya! I personally saw Inviso-Bill commit that crime!"

"Jack, don't you realize what he just said?" said Maddie, "He's that ghost kid's defense!"

"Aw, Maddie, he can't help it...it's his job! Besides, you saw that one trial. He'll get the ghost kid convicted guilty, just like he did that guy...Mack Bernard, or something like that..."

"Wouldn't that depend," I said, "On whether or not my client is actually guilty?"

There was a short silence. Maddie and Jack looked at each other...and then burst out laughing. Jazz rolled her eyes, sighing.

Jack wiped an imaginary tear from his eye. "In all seriousness," he said, "Everyone knows ghost are pure evil! They lack a conscience. They aren't human!"

I could practically feel the anger emanating off of Maya and Pearls. I cut them off with respect and logic, in hope of maintaining calm discussion. "With all due respect, Mr. Fenton, I have worked with a ghost or two in the past, and I can assure you that they are most decidedly not 'pure evil'."

Jack and Maddie looked at each other again, then started talking in hushed tones. I could barely make out "they've fooled another one, Jack," and "he'll learn eventually that ghosts..."

"Well!" said Maddie, a bit too enthusiastically, "Is there anything you want to ask us? Perhaps take a look around our home?"

"Would doing both at once be too much to ask?"

"Not at all! Sam, Tucker, make yourselves at home!" Jack bellowed again. "Jazzy-Pants, make sure they don't get into too much trouble, now..."

"Dad...you're embarrassing me..." Jazz mumbled, blushing. Maya, Pearls, Mr. And Mrs. Fenton, and I walked towards the kitchen, while Jazz, Sam, and Tucker walked in the other. As Sam passed by me, I slipped a piece of paper from the palm of my hand into hers.

"So, this is the kitchen," said Maddie, "Where we make our food, of course, and are also performing experiments to see just how fast..." As Maddie spoke, I looked back to Sam, who had discreetly unfolded the paper and was reading as she walked. She turned her head back toward me and mouthed a"Got it!" before turning and heading upstairs. I smiled, and turned my attention back to...

The hot dogs were _alive._

**0 0 0**

"...which in turn caused the ghost to explode into smithereens!" finished Jack, who had been relating ghost stories, and ghost catching stories, to me for the past hour and twenty minutes.

"Fascinating," I said. "Now, I was wondering if you could tell me a little more about-"

"You know, I've always wondered, what's a smithereen?" asked Maya, derailing my conversation. "Is it smaller, or bigger than a smither? And what's a smither?"

"That's not the point here!" I shouted. _-Although she does raise an interesting point...-_ "Mr. Fenton, what did you see last night when you followed my client to Ms. DeLear's place?"

"Ah, ah ah!" said Jack. "Can't tell you that!"

"Why not?" I asked. Before Jack could answer, Maddie came in with a plate of more fudge.

"There you go, nice and warm!" she said. When I had first heard of Maddie Fenton, I conjured up an image of an Amazon warrior. Instead, here was a normal housewife doing normal things...in a green hazmat suit. I noticed something on it...

"What is that?" I asked, pointing to a silver bracelet around her wrist. Her sleeve had rolled up a little, allowing me to see the odd designs on it.

"Oh, it's a Mexican charm designed to ward of evil spirits! I wear it just in case a ghost manages to sneak up on me."

"9th degree black belts worry about getting snuck up upon?" I joshed.

"You'd be surprised!" Maddie responded as Pearls grabbed a large hunk of fudge, and started to eat.

"Mmm..." said Pearls. "Mrs. Fenton, this is the best thing I've ever tasted!" She took a large bite, unusual for her. "It's yummy!" she finished with her mouth full, even more unusual for her. Then, it hit me.

"Why thank you, Pearly!" said Maddie, already picking up on the nickname everyone but me used for Pearls. I gulped a little, scooting away. _-8-year old kid who has had sugar maybe twice in her lifetime has fudge for the first time, and eats three sizable helpings...oh dear...-_ Pearls suddenly started to vibrate.

"WowImeanthisislikesogoodIcan'tstopeatingdoesanyoneelsefeelgoodImeanreallyreallygoodlikeIcouldrunaroundtheworldreallyfastwithotustoppingheyIcandoacartwheelwannaseehuhhuhhuhyouwannaseeormaybeIcouldrunaroundthehouseasfastasIcanyeahI'lldothatokayreadyokayhereIgoreadyokay! WHEEEEEEEEEE!"

And Pearls took off, running into the kitchen, out of sight, and back into the room at speeds thought impossible by humans...or race cars, for that matter. Maya looked down at her fudge, still sitting on a plate, and then pushed it away, a grimace on her face. After about the twentieth lap, I managed to grab Pearls, lifting her into the air, where she continued to talk quickly and run in place. "I'm so sorry about Pearls..." I began to apologize.

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! We have kids, we know what a sugar high is like!" said Maddie. "Dear, would you go get the "warm milk" from the kitchen?"

"On it, Maddie!" shouted Jack, jumping up and running into the kitchen. Something about the way Maddie said "warm milk" unnerved me, but I didn't have time to think about that while trying to restrain a sugar-high driven eight-year old kid. Jack soon came back in. "Hey, Pearly!" he said, holding a glass of what looked like milk. "Would you like some milk to wash down that fudge with?"

"OhboywouldIyouknowfudgetastesgoodbutinyourmouthfeelsallweirdafteritI'dkindoflikesomemilkthanksgulp...gulp...gulp...ah! ThankyouMr.FentonI reallyneededthat becausethe fudge was...starting...to..." and Pearls yawned, and then fell asleep on my arm.

"Wow," I said. "I'm guessing that was more than warm milk?"

"It's the Fenton Anti-sugar!" said Jack. "When you drink it, it absorbs any excess energy and any excess sugar recently digested, converting the sugar into energy. It then stores that energy, and slowly is dissolved by your stomach acids, giving you that energy back over time."

"Of course," said Maddie "Since it absorbs energy, it leaves you feeling pretty drained for an hour or two, but that's the only side effect. Unless, of course, your kids get a sugar high like, once a day or something..." And she chuckled.

"Heh..." I chuckled a little myself. "Say, um, do you have an extra bed anywhere around here?..."

"Why, actually, yes!" said Maddie. "Danny's away at a ghost hunting camp, so his bedroom should be empty...unless, of course, the kids are playing around in there..."

"Thanks," I said, heading up the stairs with Pearls in my arms and Maya at my side.

"Make sure to hurry back!" shouted Jack. "We've still got the lab to tour!"

_-I'll make sure to take my time, then...-_ I thought.

**0 0 0**

I gently tucked Pearls into Danny's bed, and then turned to Sam, Jazz, and Tucker, who had been kind enough to mute their video game for us. "So?" I whispered to Sam. "Did you get the note?"

"Wasn't much of one," she whispered back, holding it up in the air. I snatched it and opened it, letting the smell of new evidence wash over me...metaphorically, of course.

_-Let's see here...a map of the ghost zone...a map of Amity...and a list of Danny's powers...Sam's right, this is useless! I spent over an hour listening to Jack babble for this?-_ "Well," I said, "Can you think of anything I ought to ask them?"

"What exactly is in that fudge?" mumbled Maya, looking a little scared.

"Let's avoid that topic," I said, "Along with anything to do with ghosts that doesn't pertain to the murder."

There was a long silence, which never really broke, so I left to do some investigating. As I walked downstairs, I thought of the state this broken-er and broken-er family was in

_-The fudge-headed dad who is overly concerned with ghosts, the excelling in ghost-hunting mom whom I think is really insecure at heart, the ghostly kid trying to be a superhero and deal with bullies at the same time, and the psychologist to be who still hasn't learned the thinking process for just being a kid...-_ I thought. _-How does this family stay together? I'm ready to go back to where things made sense...unfortunately, I have no idea where that is...-_

**0 0 0**

"Fenton fingerprints, eh?" I said.

"Yep. The only way to get the ghost portal to work, unless," and here Jack laughed, "You're strong enough to force a solid steel, titanium reinforced door open while being bombarded by ecto-energy..."

"And most ghosts are," reminded Maddie, a slightly mad look on her face.

"I'm working on it..." said Jack, the humor gone from his voice.

We were touring the lab, which had a lot more useful evidence than Danny's room. Schematics for the Fenton Ghost Tracker, the Fenton Ghost Tracker itself, data on all currently "known" ghosts, and, most recently, the Fenton Portal and its lock. I wasn't sure whether or not any of this would be useful, but then, you never know.

"So..." I asked, "What's it like for you, hunting ghosts?"

"Hectic, dangerous, and rewarding!" paradoxed Maddie.

"Uh, huh...Jack, what exactly made you so sure it was my client you saw at Ms. DeLear's house?"

"I've already told you, but I don't mind saying it again! The Fenton Ghost Tra-"

"No...I mean...what made _you _so sure it was the ghost boy you saw? Besides the tracker?"

"Well, I was looking right in the window...I could never mistake that silhouette!"

"That's what you said about my Aunt Daisy..." said Maddie, angrily.

"It was an honest mistake!" said Jack.

I inched back a little, deciding that my next question would a bit more subtle. Of course, that was before my magatama began to glow.

"Uh oh..." I murmured, making an executive decision to GET THE HECK OUT OF THERE!

The ghost portal was slammed open, and a figure in an inky black cape came out. I had no idea what it was, and I wasn't sticking around to find out! Then again, leaving without saying goodbye would be rude, considering this was normal, everyday stuff for this family...which was kind of sad...

"Get out of here!" shouted Jack, grabbing what looked like a vacuum cleaner and springing into action. I needed no further urging. I ran upstairs, and out of the house, grabbing my "group" on the way.

"What was that all ab-" Jazz started to say.

"RAAAAAAR!" came a loud noise from the basement. There was a short silence after that, which Sam broke.

"To the limo!" she shouted, then ran. Most of the rest of us followed, and then we sped off, dropping off Sam and Tucker at their houses and leaving Jazz behind at hers. I looked back just in time to see Jazz give off a sigh.

**0 0 0**

The driver, who looked as pale as the ghost this town was famous for, finally heeded my instructions and stopped in front of the scene of the crime. I got out, and was immediately mobbed by police officers trying to keep the scene clear.

"Hey...pardon me...excuse me...please...lemme by!" I shouted to no avail.

"I can't see anything but badges and blue uniforms!" shouted Maya.

"Hey, a penny!" said Pearl. Sadly, at least six officers bent over to try and pick it up.

After a few more seconds of struggling, a loud, gravelly voice spoke up above the uproar. "Alright, alright, break it up!" it said. Almost immediately, everyone stopped. The policepeople parted like a bad hairstyle (Ouch...), and an...imposing man walked through the gap.

He was dressed in a trenchcoat, was broadly built, and wasn't clean shaven. That's where the similarities with Detective Gumshoe ended. This detective (as I would soon find out he was) wore a brown hat with a short rim (much like the style in which the movie detectives wore long ago), where Gumshoe went without an ornamental headdress. Gumshoe, despite his intimidating looks, hadn't been in a _real _fight in his life (though he faked it to save us once), while this guy had a twelve-inch curved scar from his forehead to his left cheek to his chin. Gumshoe went to elementary schools once a year to talk to kids about anything and everything to do with drugs, especially how to avoid them, while this guy had a cigarette that probably could only escape from his mouth by burning to ashes. Also, I am not scared of Gumshoe, but this guy made me wish the officers were still mobbing me.

"Who the...heck are you supposed to be?" he said, pausing to notice Pearls before saying 'heck' in place of...well, I don't wanna know.

"I...I'm, uh..." I stuttered.

"Phoenix Wright!" shouted Maya, oblivious as usual. "I'm Maya Fey, and this is my cousin, Pearl Fey!"

"Phoenix Wright, huh?" said the big man. "Yeah, I've heard of you. Notorious for searching the scene of a crime when he's not supposed to..." it was hard to concentrate when whoever-it-was's bad breath combined with the cigarette smoke to create an absolutely horrid stench.

"Technically, lawyers are allowed to search crime scenes nowadays as long as they have police supervision..." I murmured, trying to curl up into a ball and stay standing up straight at the same time.

"Yeah, but I get the feeling you weren't always _under_ police supervision, Mr. Wright..." said the extremely large man before me. "Besides, even if you were always under surveillance, which I doubt, several people still frown on the practice..." and here he bent over to my face. Very close to my face. "And I'm one of the frowners..."

_-Maybe it's just my imagination, but is his cigarette smoke curling into the words 'I don't like you'?-_ I thought. "Mr...uh..."

"Gravel," responded the powerful man, "Bull Gravel. Amity Park's local detective."

"Well, Mr...Gravel...uh...could we please have a look around the scene?" I asked, timidly.

The man reared up to his full, powerful height, then sighed. "Fine..." he mumbled. "But only because there's nothing I can legally do to stop you..." and then he stepped aside. I walked past him, giving a sheepish smile. Maya had finally picked up on this guy's bad vibes, and went carefully along beside me. Pearls was still in the dark about this guy's true nature.

"Thank you for letting us in, Mr. Gravel!" she said brightly and cheerfully, as she gave a little bow.

I tuned to see "Mr. Gravel" smiling at Pearls. "You're quite welcome! Come on, let's go inside."

"Okay," said Pearls, before running off in the general direction of the house.

Bull Gravel followed behind her, still smiling...except for a few seconds when he passed by me, in which he frowned, and I felt very uncomfortable.

**0 0 0**

"So she was stabbed in the heart?" I asked Bull, as I examined the chalk markings on the carpet.

"Yep. Death was nigh-on instantaneous," said Bull.

"Then why's there so little blood?" asked Maya.

I looked at the carpet again. There was a bloodstain or two, but they were small, and the carpet was a dull orange, so you couldn't see the blood very well.

"Murderer left the weapon in the body, at least long enough for the blood to clot," responded Bull. "Any other questions, or are you about ready to leave?" he continued.

"None of the above," I said, standing up and looking around the room. I slowly gathered in every last detail I could find, while simultaneously asking Bull another question. "What time was the body discovered?"

"Same time as the murder," said Bull.

"And when was that?" asked Maya.

"We ain't sure. If that Fenton fellow is to be believed, it was at 9:00 exactly, but I don't believe him. He's a kook."

_-No objections...-_ I thought. Then, I realized Pearls hadn't spoken for a while. I looked to where she was...

...and she wasn't there.

"Hey, where'd Pearls go?" I asked Maya.

"I dunno..." she responded.

"Oh, great..." said Bull. "Probably got curious and took off, got herself lost...heh, heh...kids. I got a cousin-"

"NICK!" shouted Pearls about two rooms and about 200 feet away. I ran to where she was, closely followed by a running Maya and a walking Bull.

"What is it, Pearls?" I asked her.

"I can't find the bathroom!..."

"Ho boy..." I said. Then, I noticed something odd. _-That thermometer...-_

I took a step towards it, and Bull noticed me noticing it. "Yeah, you're probably wondering why the thermometer reads absolute zero, right?"

"It had crossed my mind..." I said. "That, and the reason why it's not cold at all in here..."

"It's a fancy thermometer, that one. It's hooked up to the air conditioner and heating system, so if you manually reset it, whatever temperature it reads is what temperature the two will make it in the room. If you set it to zero, the air conditioner and the heating system both won't blow at all."

"That's weird," said Maya, "Why would she set the them not to blow at all? I mean, I could understand it if she was on hard luck, but from what I hear, she was earning money."

"Ms. DeLear," I said, "Is famous for being frugal with her riches. Some say saving money is how she got rich in the first place."

"True," said Bull Gravel, getting absorbed in the conversation, forgetting that he didn't like me and giving me too much info, "Legend has it that snow, sunshine, rain, or hail, that thermometer always will read zero degrees exactly, not a fraction off either way!"

"Hmm..." said Maya.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Why would she spend money," asked Maya, "on such a fancy thermometer when she could just turn off the air conditioner and heating systems?"

"We interviewed her family about that," said Bull Gravel. "Apparently, this house was pretty much her dream home. Even once she discovered that the heating and cooling systems couldn't be turned off, she bought it, simply deciding to buy a fancy new thermometer to go with it."

"If the people doing the installing could install the thermometer into the systems, couldn't they turn off the systems?"

"Apparently not...at least, not permanently," said Bull, shrugging. "Apparently, the first person who owned this house was just as rich as she was, but a lot more eccentric. He didn't want people adjusting his 'perfect system' or something like that."

"I see..." I said.

There was a long silence.

"Could we talk to the family members?" I asked.

"No," said Bull, reverting back to his normal grumpy self.

"Oh..."

There was another long silence.

"Can somebody take me to the bathroom?" asked Pearls.

"Oh, yeah!" said Bull. "Hmm...I think I can trust you to go alone...okay, you go upstairs, you turn left, and it's the second door. Got it?"

"Got it!" said Pearl, racing off.

"Cute kid..." said Bull. He was silent for a little bit, absorbed in his memories...or something like that.

"Who knew Bull Gravel had a soft spot for kids?" chuckled Maya.

"Hey!" shouted Bull. Maya and I turned towards him. "I don't like you, Mr. Wright, and I'm not too fond of this Maya girl here either, to be honest."

"Hey!" said Maya.

"But that kid...Pearl, was it? I like her. I don't want to see anything bad happening to her. And this city's gotten pretty bad as of late. You two take care of her..." And here he bent over to our faces. "Got it?"

"Got it," I said, meekly, in perfect unison with Maya.

"Good," Bull said, straightening. "Now get done investigating so I can get done watching you so I can get back to investigating."

I quickly ran back to the room where Shannon DeLear was killed and started to look around.

**0 0 0**

"Bye, Pearly!" said Bull. "Hope to see you again soon!"

"You too!" said Pearls.

_-Personally, I hope not...-_ I thought, as I got inside the limo. Maya and Pearls followed, and we drove back to the hotel. _-Casper High...Nasty Burger...Wall-2-Wall Mart...Able Bankings...Frosty King...- _I thought, rambling off names of buildings we passed in my head in order to pass the time. All of a sudden, we stopped. I looked up.

AMITY HOTEL

GET YOUR DANNY PHANTOM PLUSHIES HERE!!!

The second line had been crossed out.

"That can't be good..." said Maya.

"What's a plushie?" asked Pearls.

**0 0 0**

I lay in bed, staring at the ceiling as Maya and Peals amused themselves with the suite's Funtrendo Glii.

"Let's see you hit..THIS!" shouted Maya, tauntingly, "throwing" her controller. In response, Pearls swung her controller. "You hit it...really far..." said Maya, disappointed. Pearls giggled.I chuckled at them, then continued to stare at the ceiling.

_-Of all the details today,_- I thought, _-One of them didn't fit into the big picture. Even assuming what the prosecution will be claiming tomorrow is true (and I know it's not), one detail just doesn't fit. But...what is it?-_

I continued to stare at the ceiling, that one thought bouncing around in my head as I slowly drifted to sleep. _-What is it?...what is it?...what is it?...-_

**0 0 0**

At 3:00 AM, I woke up with a start. I knew what detail was out of place. I reached towards my dresser drawer pulled it open, and pulled out my evidence. I flipped through the papers until I arrived at the one I wanted. I looked at it, looked at it, looked at it...found what I was searching for...looked at the thing I was searching for...and found the detail missing. The extremely big detail.

I was looking at a map of Amity Park, the one Danny had pointed out to me. I stared at it for a while, not believing. It was dated June 6, the day before I arrived. Yet, somehow or other...it was impossible, but...the bank I had seen on the way here...despite this being a supposedly 100 accurate photo, downloaded off the town's website...

The bank didn't appear on the map...

* * *

Ooh, suspense! Really lame suspense...anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, and the next one should be up sooner, because it's the trial! And I will realyl enjoy wrriting that! Yay! 

And, yes, I own this story.


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